The Great Trip Back In Time

The timing was perfect!  Colonial Farms in Acokeek, MD opened their 18th Century farm to homeschoolers today.  We just finished learning about colonial times at home.  

We got there a little late which worked out to our benefit.  My boy's special needs include sensory overload when he's in large groups.  If we had gotten there with the rest of the homeschoolers, there would have been a crowd of 20+ kids at each station of the tour.  That would have made him withdrawal fast.

Making candles

Being late, we met at each station with volunteer teachers in authentic period clothes with two or three other kids at most.  

Pounding "biscuits" out of flour, lard and salt.  Better hard and tasteless than moldy was the notion.

He was inquisitive and eager to try out all the hands on lessons in colonial farm-life.  All of his curiosity and excitement for learning goes MIA when there's too many people around.  I've never been so thankful for Beltway traffic getting us to our POD 30 minutes tardy.

Grinding corn into flour

Peeling garlic for planting

Planting the garlic.  He was surprised to learn that they used the garlic mostly for medicine.

The young woman on the farm was so kind to him.  Noticing how much he enjoyed working in her garden, she invited him to stay after the other children left to peel and plant the rest of the garlic and cover it with hay.  He was stoked!

Tabacco was the cash crop here.  I have no idea why he thought this was a good pose.  LOL

Playing Colonial-Style

See?  Even the Colonial child's lawn darts were safer than those for a child of the Seventies.

I don't know how he swung it, but he got a personal lesson in spinning when all the other kids left too.

Did you know that linen was more common than cotton back then?  

I'm pretty sure I had to say, "DON'T MESS WITH THE GUN!" at least 12 times.

This is what happens to little boys who don't listen to their mothers.

So, it may be the early bird that catches the worm, but it's the late, special needs homeschooler who gets the best lesson.